


Just Like Fire [DISCONTINUED]

by consistently_inconsistent



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Bottom Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gay Keith (Voltron), Keith and Lance are roommates, M/M, Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Slow Burn, Texan Keith (Voltron), Top Keith (Voltron), everyones a superhero whoop whoop, im trash for bottom lance tbh, klance, maybe some backgroung Shatt or Lotura, mostly klance though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-03-30 22:30:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13961415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/consistently_inconsistent/pseuds/consistently_inconsistent
Summary: Keith hated a lot of things. Talkative people - or just extroverts in general, biology, midterms, but above everything Keith hated Galra battles.Especially when he was losing.Today Keith was in trouble, he was way too tired after last nights study session, and the Galra fleet was just too big. But, Keith hated losing, and it was going to take a lot more than a little sleepiness and one or two extra Galra to make him give up.---With the oncoming threat of midterms, almost daily Galra attacks, and a new team of heroes called 'The Garrison Trio' in town giving Keith's team 'Voltron' a run for their money, the last thing Keith needed was to get used a new roommate.Especially since his new roommate was annoying, obnoxious, loud, cocky, weirdly suspicious, and absolutely adorable.a.k.a The superhero au no one asked for but I made anyway / an excuse for me to describe Lance in a skintight super-suit





	1. 1. Who's that?

Keith hated a lot of things. Talkative people - or just extroverts in general, biology, midterms, but above everything Keith hated Galra battles.

Especially when he was losing.

The Galra were an under ground group of bad guys - make that a society. They had more strength than normal humans, they were taller, and their skin always had a slight purple tint to it. All of this was thanks to Haggar, a super just like Keith - she had the ability to control and bend quintessence - the life force and energy of every living thing in the universe - and her husband, Zarkon, another superhero.

His powers? Still unknown.

Today Keith was in trouble, he was way too tired after last nights study session- during which his new roommate had been nowhere to be seen, and the galra fleet was just too big. But, Keith hated losing, and it was going to take a lot more than a little sleepiness and one or two extra Galra to make him give up.

Tendrils of fire shot out of his arm in every direction, but that wasn't doing too much good. The Galra had gotten faster over Haggar's experimenting process, and considering how tired he was his flames weren't as widespread as he would've liked. Keith considered calling for backup but he could hear Lotor, Allura and Shiro's huffs of frustration from the other sides of the line.

They'd all been positioned far apart today, Coran's scan of the city had shown that today was a particularly active day for the Galra. The only one of his teammates Keith could even remotely see was Allura, her glowing silver whip lashing down on Galra - even she seemed to be struggling today.

If some miracle didn't happen soon they would need to regroup for today, Keith was not very fond of that.

Thankfully New York City was used to the Galra by now, every window, door, and safe had been geared with protection after the fifth attack, some people were hardly fazed, most just held their breath and let Voltron handle it.

Keith kept a steady flow of fire, he'd been at this for at least an hour now and he'd only taken out a fifth of the Galra, usually he'd be done by now, although usually the fleets were one third as big. Keith paused for a second, retreating behind a billboard to catch his breath and think of something, anything, that turned the odds in his favor.

That's when the sound of firearms diminished by half.

Keith turned around in shock, seeing half the Galra immobilized with... Ice? Yup, that was definitely ice. Half of the fleet had been glazed over in ice, the remaining were wide eyed and watched warily in horror as more and more of them were encased in frozen water.

That's when Keith caught a beam of ice hitting a group of Galra and followed the beam to the top of a building.

A masked man stood atop the building. Keith was close enough to see every feature of the mans face, except that most of his feature were hidden under a mask that covered everything below his hairline. Only his hair and his eyes were visible, but those couldn't be his normal eyes.

They were an absolutely clear ice-like pale blue that stood out against his dark outfit and the caramel skin around his eyes.

His mask was black with two lines of dark blue running down the sides and his hair stood out over the top - somehow it was perfect even during a battle. He wore a skin tight black suit and ankle boots of the same color. Two blue lines ran down his sides and the fabric beyond the lines was more raven in contrast with the stark black inside the lines. The fabric clung to him like a second skin exposing slim bony hands, sharp collar bones, pronounced hips and long, slim legs.

His mask was stretched out probably due to a large smile as he hooted and shot down several Galra with his ice and unparalleled enthusiasm.

No one should be that happy fighting the Galra.

Keith disliked him already.

Keith was suddenly aware of how cold it was, his sweat had dried leaving him sticky and dry all at once and a cold wind blew through the air. Ice Boy hadn't noticed him yet as he leaped down the building, he was probably growing tired since he couldn't fight in long range any longer.

The Galra - or the very limited amount left - finally noticed him.

They growled at him like animals, aiming their firearms and raising their fists. Ice boy grinned from ear to ear and shot across them. He was impossibly fast, freezing every galra he touched as he ran around them. Soon the battlefield was nothing more than rows and rows of frozen Galra, not moving and completely immobilized. Keith saw the boy tap twice above his ears and speak, that same obnoxious smile - and yes Keith was still certain Ice Boy hid a smile under the mask - never leaving his face.

In a matter of seconds the police cars as well as overhead helicopter showed up.

The police spoke a few words to Ice Boy as he bowed his head and appeared to laugh, the helicopter dropped down a rope-ladder and Ice Boy flashed the cops a small salute before speeding up the ladder and into the helicopter. Keith didn't notice much after that, except the boy taking off his mask and revealing more brown hair and the nape of his neck - caramel with the ever popular tattoo of two arrows.

Keith didn't catch his face, he couldn't have, the boy was leaning against the helicopter door showing his back to the entire city.

He tapped into his own com, "All done on my side Shiro," he said, "but call a team meeting. It looks like there's a new superhero in town."

 

 

Lance stripped off his mask the moment he was inside Matt's helicopter and heaved out a sigh.

"I'm so tired," he breathed out, stretching his limbs and leaning against the Helicopter's glass door, he felt his eyes turn back to their normal much darker blue as he released his hold on his super powers for the day.

"Good job out there buddy," Hunks voice said from Lance's com device, "Matt, done and ready for collection."

Matt nodded from the pilots chair, "On our way Hunk."

Pidge was already seated, her mask off and steam-punk ish costume spattered with blood. Pidge had the ability to slow down or stop other peoples perception of time, making them much slower - which made her seem like a lightning bolt in comparison - or making their entire body freeze completely - a very different "freeze" than Lances though, mind you.

Lance had the ability to control and create all and every form of water - ice, waves, steam (as unhelpful as that - steam, not waves and ice - was).

Pidge groaned, still in her steampunk-ish costume, "I can't believe we we're transferred to new york city, hello! I go to Harvard! Harvard! So what if I could get into NYU in my sleep, it doesn't mean I want to go there."

Lance, Matt, Pidge and Hunk were part of an organisation called The Garrison, it trained people from all over the world that were born with special abilities, 'Supers', like Lance.

Lance had gotten into U.C.L.A - even though he'd been originally wait-listed, and until a week ago he attended U.C.L.A, his dream school since as long ago as he could remember. Being forced to attend N.Y.U instead was a blow - not to mention Lances new roommate and Lance did not have the best relationship, but Lance got over it, anything to save lives, right?

"I feel you," Lance said, "I already miss U.C.L.A and I haven't even been at N.Y.U. for an entire week."

The helicopter came to a stop and Lance leaned away from the glass doors as they opened for Hunk. Hunk pulled himself in and collapsed on the floor, "I hate never york." Lance, Pidge and Matt nodded in agreement. Today was their first day fighting bad guys in New York, before that they'd been navigating the city trying to map the place out in their minds and memorize every street, mall, school and neighborhood.

Hunk, Pidge and Lance had trained together in The Garrison, separating for college, it had been a sad farewell, now Lance looked back and wished The Garrison had told him that they would all be transferred to New York in half a year.

"I just want to go back to M.I.T," Hunk moaned, "Doesn't New York City already have a superhero team?"

Matt nodded, "Yup, they call themselves 'Voltron', we don't know anything about them except that their under that other super hero agency - The Blade Of Mermora."

"Voltron? That's some name," Hunk said, getting up from the floor and sitting down next to Pidge as Lance leaned against the glass doors once again. He raise an eyebrow, "Where were they? Shouldn't they have been taking care of this instead of us? Although this was admittedly extremely hard, I don't think I'll have enough strength to carry all my stuff to my dorm." He said, tiredly.

"They were there actually, you guys just kinda outdid them," Matt said, "I'll probably do some research on them, now that I have so much time."

Matt was a super who had the ability to shoot bullets (that somehow never needed to be refilled) from his fingertips. He had been part of a 3-man team just like Lance, Hunk and Pidge. He'd been separated from his teammates, Rolo and Nyma, to assist Lance, Hunk and Pidge instead. Lance was kind of guilty about it, if he was honest, he would have been devastated if someone forcibly made him split up from Hunk Pidge.

"How come they didn't do anything?" Pidge seethed angrily, "I mean the least they could've done is helped us."

Lance scratched the back of his neck, where his Garrison tattoo - two arrows atop one another facing opposite directions - stood proudly. "I remember that by the time I reach about a fifth of the soldiers had been taken care of, they looked kinda burnt actually," Lance said.

"That must've been a member of Voltron," Hunk said, "But, how come they didn't help you after that?"

Lance shrugged, he didn't have enough energy to think right now, "Honestly all I want to do is collapse," he said, "Hunk, my man, my buddy, can you please be my savior help me take the last of my stuff up to the dorm, your super strength would be very very, and I repeat, very much appreciated." Hunk rolled his eyes.

"Sure, drama queen."

Lance grinned from ear to ear.

"I really shouldn't have to remind you guys but be careful with those powers of yours," Matt said, "You don't wanna get caught." Pidge grinned, "Look at you being all parent-like, I haven't see you this responsible since that one time when you were in eighth grade and mom and dad left you in charge for a day." Matt grinned back at her, "University will do that to you, sis."

"Anyway, brace yourselves, we're about to land."

 

 

Keith sighed as he collapsed in his dorm.

He wasn't that tired anymore - drained of all super-natural ability, but not tired. Apparently Ice Boy wasn't the only newcomer on the block, Allura had apparently seen a hero who could insanely fast and Lotor reported a hero with insane strength. Shiro said there was a helicopter over his area and a guy that leaned out of the window and killed every galra below with - in shiro's words - "hand bullets".

He'd returned to fatigue, unopened cardboard boxes and the reminder that his new roommate was still going to be living here. He'd only been informed about a week ago, some guy who transferred here from U.C.L.A, Keith had no idea why. A week later, Lance had shown up. Keith had never wanted to go to N.Y.U anyway, but the Blade Of Marmora told all of them to stay near.

"Team Voltron has to stay together and protect New York, but don't forget your studies," they'd said.

"Your education won't be too much of a problem," they'd said.

Ha.

He was dying because of college, Midterms aren't fun.

Not that Keith had had fun the past year.

Keith heard lively chatter and two sets of footsteps heading his way, he sighed, roommate alert. Keith and Lance had met each other and silently agreed on mutual hatred, the guy was everything Keith hated and Lance seemed to return that notion. He was never in the dorm either - he'd become instantly popular and had been to five parties in his past seven days here.

Keith hated parties.

The door opened and he heard a voice say, "Thanks for the help, bud." He heard a laugh and a pair of feet walking the other way and watched as his roommate entered the room, stilling at the sight of Keith.

Lance seemed tired, bags under his eyes and he was giving out under the weight of a single box, but no matter how much Keith disliked Lance, he was ridiculously pretty, slim and lithe and ever so slightly taller than Keith. He had tan caramel skin and long legs, his bone structure was so sharp and his eyes were a striking dark blue. Today he was in his skinny jeans, which accentuated hips that jutted out almost like a girls and his sharp collar bones peaked through his loose black t-shirt, his favorite army jacket draped over his arms.

Keith would have been shamelessly attracted to him if he wasn't such an idiot.

Keith and Lance linked eyes for a second before scoffing and looking away from each other, Lance dropped the box on the ground with a groan. Lance had a tattoo - the usual arrows - on his nape and Keith had noticed it the second Lance walked into the dorm - when he was younger he'd always wanted to be covered in tattoo's, as of now he had about five.

Keith squinted, newfound suspicion rising in his system: Lance's tattoo was identical to ice-boys.

But no, Lance, with his dark blue eyes, couldn't be ice-boy, with his orbs of ice.

A weird usual silence fell on the room as Lance unpacked his things humming to himself in the process. Keith knew they had nothing in common the moment Lance had pulled out a Charo poster - they were in contrast with the My Chemical Romance poster on his own side of the room - and more toiletries than anyone could need on his first day here.

That's when Lotor and Allura popped into the room. Keith quirked an eyebrow as the couple walked in and plopped down on his bed.

"Hey Keith, hey Lance," Lotor greeted, they both flashed Lance their award-winning smiles as Lance fashed - his equally award-winning - smile back at them, "Hey guys."

Lotor and Allura were two years older than Keith, already in their third year of college while Keith was still a junior, Shiro was in university, older than all three of them. Lance waved to them and said, "I'm gonna go now, bye," before slipping out of the door as Allura and Lotor hollered their goodbyes. Lotor sent a smirk Keith's way.

"Boy, you'r lucky you have a roommate that good looking," he winced as his girlfriend punched him playfully in the arm,

"Hey!" Allura said, "But I gotta admit, he is freakishly attractive."

Keith rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah sure."

Lotor shrugged, "I'm serious dude. Guys want him, girls want him, guys wanna be him, girls wanna be him, literally, straight dudes are attracted to him."

Allura laughed, "He's never at any of the parties though," she said, "always says he's busy and flirts himself out of going."

Keith raised an eyebrow, "What are you two talking about? Lance is always at parties? I mean, he's never in the dorm." Allura and Lotor threw each other a look of confusion.

"Keith, I'm pretty sure we know more about the party scene here than you do," Lotor said, "and trust us, out of the five parties Lance has been invited to since he got here, he has attended a total of zero."

Keith found himself drifting back to the tattoo he'd noticed on the nape of Lances neck.


	2. Team Voltron

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance's thoughts, Lance's opinions
> 
>  
> 
> \- - -  
> a very short and very boring chapter for plot-purposes™

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for all the support this early in the fic guys, it means a shit ton to me and just yaaayyyyyy
> 
>  
> 
> *sends virtual hugs to everyone*

Lance and Keith had a strained relationship to say the least.

Lance had disliked him pretty much the moment he'd walked into his dorm and seen Keith lying there completely ignoring him.

He hadn't even bothered to say hi.

Actually, Keith never really said anything, he shot Lance glares and engaged in occasional but increasingly common arguments ranging from how long Lance took to get ready every morning to the way he studied. Which was a lot, just by the way. He may not have wanted to be here at N.Y.U but he had to perform decently.

It doesn't matter how many lives Lance saved, his mom would murder him if he performed badly in his tests.

Another thing Lance didn't like bout Keith was that he was a walking emo-stereotype, all black clothing, quiet, piercings along the side of his ears, My Chemical Romance and Twenty One Pilots posters plastered along his walls, he even had fucking finger-less gloves.

And then there was the hair.

Keith had a mullet, a fucking mullet. Newsflash, it's the 21st century and he's at college in New York City - one of the most fashion forward places on the planet, it most definitely was not the 80's or the set of stranger things or some other 80's themed Netflix show that Lance thoroughly enjoyed (he had binge-watched 'The End Of The Fucking World' and 'Everything Sucks' - not to mention 'Stranger Things' - a good 100 times or so).

Keith's friends were pretty fun though, Allura and Lotor..

They were a power couple at campus and Lotor had invited him to a party already - he was part of one of the fraternities at N.Y.U, Alpha Galra Tau. Lance had also found himself getting immediately popular at N.Y.U, he got invited to parties almost daily even though he'd just transferred, which was great because they were the perfect excuse - Keith never suspected a thing when he crashed into their dorm at 4 a.m, also, Lance was really good at acting drunk.

Don't ask why.

Lance genuinely liked Allura, with her dyed silver hair that were fading at the roots, and Lotor, with his blonde frat-boy charm - Lance would be lying if he said he wasn't attracted to both of them even a little bit. He was ready to have a full-fledged conversation with them when his phone screen lit up, Pidge had messaged him "COME TO OUR APARTMENT RIGHT NOW" on Instagram in all caps with hundreds of exclamation marks.

So, Lance ducked out of his dorm saying a fast goodbye to Allura and Lotor, maybe Keith to some minuscule degree, and hurried to Pidge and Hunk's apartment.

Hunk and Pidge had managed to get an apartment in the city about 30 minutes from campus by foot, with the subway he'd reach there in about 10 minutes easy. He'd grabbed his backpack before he left and he fished out the jacket he'd stuffed in there earlier and shrugged it on over his slim N.Y.U sweatshirt.

March was nearly over, and while it was sunny in new york, it was still only 7 degrees and you still needed at least three layers.

(Or Maybe that was just Lance, he had grown up in sunny, sunny, california after all.)

He quickly jogged to the subway station and arrived just as his train was about to leave, he relaxed and leaned against the glass door - no matter how much the train guidelines said not to - and fished out his phone, tucking his earphones into his ears as the familiar sound of Declan McKenna's song 'Isombard' flooded his ears. Recently Lance had been discovering a shit-ton of pretty much undiscovered music, he loved it, but he still lived for Shakira and Charo.

What could he say, nostalgia trumps any actually good music, and Shakira was the furthest thing from bad music anyway.

Although, honestly? He couldn't say the same for Charo.

She wasn't an "off-brand Cher" as Pidge had dubbed her, but she wasn't exactly Beyonce either.

Lance jumped off the metro as it came to a stop and he sprinted to Pidge and Hunk's apartment. They'd found a pretty decent studio apartment in an apartment complex called 'Altea Homes' and it was where they had most of the team meetings. Their apartment was the perfect blend of all things modern and techy - thanks to Pidge - but still had a very much home-like feel to it, the smell of Hunk's baking permanently flooded the air of the apartment.

He knocked on the door outside the apartment, they lived on the fifth floor so the lift hadn't taken to long. Hunk opened the door, "That was quick, bud," he said, "Pidge exaggerated though, the information isn't THAT urgent." Lance was still breathless, panting slightly as he held onto the sides of the apartment's door, "I'm... gonna.... kill that.... gremlin," he said between pants.

"Well, I baked brownies, so those are there to cheer you up."

"With walnuts, caramel and sea-salt?"

"Just like you like it."

Lance grinned and walked into the apartment. He found Pidge in front of the giant computer screen looking over some files and crashed into the green couch that faced the screen and squinted at whatever Pidge was looking over.

"What've you got there?"

"Information," Pidge responded, swiveling her chair around so she faced Lance, "Matt just sent me his research on 'Team Voltron'."

Lance quirked an eyebrow, interest peaked, "That other super-hero team here?" He asked, Pidge nodded. She swiveled around to once again face the computer screen, and pulled up a file.

"First off there's 'The Champion', it seams like he's the team's leader. As far as we know his powers are flight and super strength - the basic "way-more-quintessence-than-everyone-else" situation," Pidge said, she pulled up multiple picture of a man in black and white, he was tall and very broad, his muscles ruthlessly apparent. He was fully covered - even his eyes or nose weren't exposed, but his hair peaked out over the top of his super suit - it was black, with a single tuft of white peaking out over the top.

"Then there's 'Empress', apparently she has something called 'foresight' which informs her of your next move before you strike, she also has an electric white whip. It seams like she's the only girl on the team." Pidge pulled out a new set of pictures, the woman was clad in what looked like medieval gold and pink armor and the bottom half of her face was covered, elfen ears stuck out on either side of her face. Her eyes glowed an unnatural gold and piles of weirdly real looking white hair sat on top of her head, it looked like she had dark skin and her figure was apparently female.

"Then we have 'Emperor'." Pidge continued, "He seams to be Empress's other half. They both possess foresight and usually fight side by side, they have some sort of connection that Matt hasn't managed to figure out. Apparently he also has a sword that changes it's size, shape and thickness according to what he wants at the given moment."

Once again a new set of picture were displayed on Pidges screen. It was a man this time, he was in a similar armor as 'Empress' except the pink had been replaced with a pale purple color instead. He too only had the top half of his face visible - unnatural glowing gold eyes, elfen ears, white hair, but unlike his counterpart, who had healthy dark skin, his skin was tinted purple. Then Hunk came over with a plate of brownies and Lance stuffed his face as Pidge exclaimed the last super-hero.

"Lastly there's 'Red Rebel', his ability is basically being able to shoot fire out of his hands - a more limited but equally deadly version of the same type of elemental magic Lance has."

A new set of pictures on Pidges screen revealed a superhero clad in a red and black super suit which clung to his suit and a dark red and gray trench-coat kind of thing over it. His hands were clad in red finger-less gloves - ugh, he had a red cloth tied over the bottom half of his face, exposing flashing yellow eyes and gray combat boots on his feet. His dark hair was apparently greasy and tied into a short ponytail.

Super's eyes tended to change when they engaged their abilities, Lance's flashed a much lighter blue, Pidge's a blinding neon green and Hunk's a warm gold - kind of like the color that Emperor and Empress's eyes flashed. Usually super's had these abilities because they had a flow of corrupted quintessence, which made their eyes glow and gave them super abilities. Of course there were many like 'Champion', who simply had too much quintessence which enhanced their senses.

Essentially making them kind of "extreme" human beings; smarter, faster, stronger, than the rest of the human race.

"They're apparently super powerful, but they're not used to fighting groups of galra as big as the ones today." Pidge said, "Honestly they seem kind of too flashy to me."

Lance's eyes skimmed over the last superhero - Red Rebel - as Pidge shut off the screen.

"Pidge!" He whined, "I thought I was supposed to be the flashy one."

Hunk chuckled, "You are super extravagant with your powers, dude," he said, "remember how pissed Iverson got that one time you flooded the entire Garrison during training."

Pidge grinned, grabbing a brownie, "Oh god, he was so mad, apparently he'd never been that mad ever before OR ever since."

Lance chuckled, "I guess I have that effect on people, considering my roommate hates me."

Hunk groaned, Lance had complained more than enough times about his roommate ever since he's first moved in with him.

"I mean, the feeling mutual of course," Lance rambled on.

They soon finished their banter and Pidge assigned everyone jobs to find more info on Voltron, they didn't find much.

After a couple hours of research Hunk told Lance to get home since it was getting dark and packed him some brownies to take back to his dorm. Lance left the apartment, a wave of fatigue washing over him as he made his way to the subway.

 

 

 

Keith really really hated studying, it had never quite been his strong point.

He studied a shit ton to keep his grades in check, Lance studied a lot too, but not nearly as much as Keith, which meant Lance constantly complained about how Kieth was interrupting his so-called "beauty sleep" by staying up till 3 a.m. and refusing to turn off the lights.

He was listening to Fall Out Boy and going over his physics work when Lance walked into the room, he looked so, so, so very tired, Keith actually felt kinda bad.

Lance crashed into his bed, wincing as Fall Out Boy's loud music hit his ears.

"Keith, please, I know you hate me, but please turn down your music just a little but, please?"

Keith was going to ignore his request and glare at him instead, but he could hear the distress in Lance's voice and sighed in frustration as he plugged his ear-pods into his phone and disconnected his phone from his bluetooth speaker, and then Lance smiled at him.

Tiredly but brightly nevertheless and so genuine that for the first time Keith saw him as good and sunny and every other adjective people used to describe the caramel skinned boy.

Then Lance proceeded to pass out on his bed- still in his old clothes and socks and shoes.

Keith was a little surprised, mainly because in their five days of living together this was the first time Lance had smiled at him.


	3. He Has A Nice Butt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im thinking of some fluff next chappie but this ones very... idk, is stoic the right word?

Keith kept an eye out for Ice-Boy this time, expecting to see the skin tight suit and ice blue eyes any minute now, even though this time the fleet was considerably smaller and Keith was doing pretty okay on his own shooting fire left and right.

The Galra seemed to have taken a hit after Ice-Boy (and the rest of his friends of course) froze all of them over in less than an hour. Lotor and Allura had done research on this new group of heroes and found out that they were a Garrison group called The Garrison Trio. The Garrison was their biggest competition when it came to crime fighting - even though Shiro continuously complained about how there shouldn't be a competition at all, something about how it doesn't matter as long as we save lives yadda yadda yadda. The Garrison was supposedly a lot stricter than the Blade Of Marmora, if you worked for them you had to follow every single order they gave you, unlike at The Blade, where you were encouraged to act on impulse more than anything else.

Victory or death, it didn't matter what you did to save lives as long as you saved them.

Keith breezed through the attack, no ice blue eyes and skin tight suit in sight, that's when his com buzzed and he heard Allura's voice from the other end of the line, "Red Rebel! I need back-up right now! Haggar and Zarkon are sending a steady inflow of Galra soldiers to me, Shiro and Lotor, you are the only one who's side of the city is currently clean of any oncoming Galra, I need you here with me right now!"

"On my way," Keith said, rushing to Allura's side of the city, Keith ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He didn't miss the familiar helicopter overhead.

By the time Keith arrived a certain pair of ice-blue eyes were already there. Allura was fighting as well, completely bewildered but clearly entertained as Ice-Boy practically danced around the battle field freezing Galra after Galra, him and Allura seemed to be communicating, Allura bewildered but please with the company. Keith saw a similar glee in their eyes as Allura slammed down her whip and Ice-Boy shot a silver ray at a group of Galra. The fleet was large, ridiculously so, especially considering the fleet on Keith's side had been tiny.

They didn't look like they needed Keith's help.

Keith landed on the battle field just as Allura slammed her whip one last time and Ice-Boy shot his last ray of ice. Keith watched as they turned to each other, closing the small distance between them and high-fived each other enthusiastically, laughs etched against their masks, it seemed as if they were talking.

Keith walked to Allura's side, "Well, Empress I assume everything's been taken care of already?" Allura turned to him and gave him a small salute, "All clear, Red, Blue, here stepped in right on time. Apparently his friends help out Shiro and Lotor, too."

Blue. Ice-Boy's name was Blue.

Blue's eyes loomed over Keith for a while before he said, "nice mullet."

His voice was modulated so no one could recognize it, as most superheroes voices were. Keith was more worried about how his hair had slipped out of its band during the battle.

Let's just say not a lot of people in New York have mullets...

Allura seemed to have caught on, she grit her teeth for a brief second before laughing and saying, "Good eye, Blue."

Blue winked and seemed like he was about to say something before the familiar whirring rang out overhead, Keith looked up to see the helicopter he'd seen the day before whirring overhead. A head popped out of the side of the helicopter, covered from the bottom half with some sort of strange steam-punk mask and eyes that glowed an electric green, "Get on, Baby Blue,! We've got some sort of meeting to get to," they said - Keith wasn't sure of their gender, although the voice seemed feminine enough.

Blue whistled, "Coming up Number. 5," he yelled out, Number. 5 nodded before a rope came down and Blue grabbed on, "Nice working with you, I'll see you guys around," he said, he nodded at Keith before the rope recoiled back to the ship. Allura's eyes followed him as he went up the rope and jumped into the helicopter, she turned to Keith, dead serious, "Keith! Be more careful with you're hair, like 3 people in New York have... whatever that is." She hissed under her breath, Keith glared at her while she paused and pondered over something, "Also, he had a nice butt."

"You have a boyfriend."

"And he would agree with me."

Keith could only shrug in reply, mainly because he knew it was true, Lotor would definitely have said something about Blue's but. Keith remembered what Number. 5 had called him - whoever he really was, Baby Blue, it was cute. Their comms buzzed as Shiro's voice filled their ears.

"Allura, Keith, Lotor and I are at Headquarters, meet us there, we're meeting The Garrison Trio."

 

 

Lance gulped as Matt's helicopter landed on The Blade Of Marmora's helipad- after so many hours riding on the thing Lance still got scared when Matt came to one of his abrupt stops. They were meeting team Voltron - masks and all of course, no identity reveals or anything. Lance had liked Empress, she was cool, definitely powerful, and she had the right balance of fun and work - a quality Lance had grown to thoroughly appreciate. Hunk hadn't disliked working with Emperor either, Pidge and Matt had reported that they really liked working with The Champion- who came up with these names though? Emperor? Empress? The Champion? Red Rebel wasn't too bad but still, it all sounded very comic book-y.

Lance's own superhero name was Blue; short, sweet and easy to understand, the color of his eyes no matter what - whether he was normal or in super-mode, not to mention his favorite color. He was not-so-affectionately known as Baby Blue when his teammates were in a lets-embarrass-Lance-so-he-doesn't-say-or-do-something-stupid mood (Pidge just used it cause - in her words - why the fuck not?).

Pidge's own superhero name was Number. 5, her lucky number or something like that, Matt's was Trigger - his teammates had given him the name, Matt chose to keep it. Hunk's was Earthquake, pretty self explanatory considering his powers were basically the real life equivalent to 'earth-bending'.

"Okay, everybody out, masks on, voice modulation activated," Matt said, he'd kind of become the leader of their team, although they didn't go by titles or anything like that, Matt was definitely the most fit to lead them. Pidge or Lance leading was simply out of the question (obviously, they'd blow up the entire town if they had it their way- there way was - quite simply - as flashy as possible) and Hunk would simply be way to nice (in other words; he would let Pidge and Lance be as flashy as they possibly could be). Matt was the obvious option.

They walked out as a group, Lance groaned as he stuffed on the mask, he hated the thing, honestly if he were allowed he'd fight in his everyday clothes- comfortable AND trendy. The Blade Of Marmora was The Garrison's only competition, the super-hero training industry was small, they didn't exactly need too many groups of people with strange abilities competing to see who could defeat the most bad guys. Lance didn't think much about The Blade, they'd helped save countless lives so what was the point of competing against them anyway?

They stepped out to see a tall, broad man, clad in black, fully covered with a mask that covered the top half of his, till his mouth and leaving netted holes so his eyes could see through the mask without being recognized.

Champion was the type of superhero who just had tonnes of tonnes of excess quintesence- they were known as Paladins. Most superhero's had a strange mystical energy that was yet to be discovered flowing in their quitessence, which gave them strange eyes and stranger powers. Since Champion didn't have any of the strage enery - scientist called it chemical A - his powers were probably constantly there and did not need to be activated. His eyes didn't glow either. 

The Champion had a smile etched onto his mask and he offered Matt his hand as Lance, Pidge, Hunk and - of course - Matt approached, "Trigger," he said, his voice was surprisingly friendly despite the modification that would make it unrecognizable in real life. Matt shook his hand, "Good to meet you again, Champion." Lance saw Pidge shoot the man a small salute and Champion nodded at her, smile perpetually present. "Let's get you guys inside."

They followed Champion into the large building. The Garrison was all blue and silver and glass, the Blade was a lot darker. The glass was shaded darkly, the whole think was glossy black and weirdly shaped - like what you'd expect to see in a movie or comic book and less like a high-tech office building/ The Garrison. The Blade Of Marmora was also based in New York - much more glamorous than the secluded woods of Oregon where The Garrison was situated.

Lance was greeted with the warm gold eyes or Empress, her eyes were warm and there was a smile etched across the mask below her knight helmet. He returned the smile and from the corner her notice the glowing yellow eyes of Red Rebel on him. Lance had met - somewhat met - Red Rebel and noticed that his eyes were completely yellow. Super's eyes tended to change when they activated their powers, Lance's iris's turned a much brighter and much lighter version of his dark blue eyes, Empress's pupils glowed gold, Pidges pupils dilated to the point where you couldn't see her iris's anymore. Red Rebels eyes fully glowed yellow and his pupils turn a light yellowish-brown color. 

Lance was yet to form an opinion on Red Rebel, he already knew he liked Empress, he thought he like The  Champion. Hadn't made up his mind when it came to Red Rebel though...

It was probably because he wore finger-less gloves. 

Although his hair was in a ponytail now, much better than that god-awful mullet that both Red Rebel and Keith seemed to have.

Keith wore finger-less gloves too, but no way that any superhero in their right mind would wear such a tell tale part of their costume in everyday life. Therefore. there was no way that Keith and Red Rebel were the same person. 

"Let me introduce you guys to the team," The Champion said, "I'm aware that some of you have met each other before but nevertheless, this is Empress," he said pointing to said superhero, "This is Emperor," this time Champion pointed to Empress's counterpart, Lance remembered him from Pidge's briefing, "and this is Red Rebel, our youngest," Champion finished.

"Nice to meet you," Matt said, a smile shining in his eyes - Matt's sclera glowed orange and his iris's glowed gold when he activated his powers, "I'm Trigger," Matt pointed to Pidge, "That's Earthquake, the tiny one is Number. 5 and long-leggy brown hair is Blue. Please call them Mother, Gremlin and Baby Blue respectively."

Pidge rolled her eyes, "Only if you call Trigger over here Annoying Orange- you hear that! Not only are you a meme, your a dead meme." Matt gasped dramatically. Lance was doubling over in laughter. "Guys, we're in company," Hunk said, smiling apologetically as Lance, Matt and Pidge forced themselves to stop laughing.

 

 

 

Keith's eyes raked over the set of superhero's in front of him. Voltron, his team, stood at attention but The Garrison Trio (although there were four of them...?) stood casually. Blue had his arm rested on Earthquake's shoulder and was leaning across him, Number. 5 - Keith recognized her as the one who'd called Blue 'baby blue' - had her arms crossed over her and was holding her stomach, a side affect of that Annoying Orange comment. Trigger stood next to Shiro, he was cracking his knuckles and stretching his limbs, he smiled through his mask - was he wearing those uniform that Olympic shooters wore? - and he and Shiro seemed to be talking, separated from everyone else.

Keith felt a little overwhelmed by them. They were insanely casual, laughing and relaxed around each other. He noticed they had the same effect on his own team because soon Lotor and Allura were laughing and socializing along with them. Keith stood with them and remained silent unless there was a question or statement directed towards him - his natural state. No one thought much of it, neither did Keith, until they were about to head inside and discuss more serious matter  and Keith heard Blue call his name.

"Oh Red, by the way I like the ponytail much better than the mullet, it suits you."

Keith's team-mates nodded in response and Lotor doubled over in laughter - he liked making fun of Keith's hair too, he was especially happy when others made fun of it as well. Keith scowled at Lotor before a smirk spread across his mouth, he turned to Blue, "Thanks, Baby Blue, am I right?"

This time Earthquake and Number. 5 nodded and laughed, blue pouted, jutting out his bottom lip so much that it stuck out against the mask that covered his lips. 

It was almost cute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just clarifying but Lance's suit is basically the BOM suit PLUS a hood PLUS blue BECAUSE LANCE DOESN'T DO PURPLE OK (also his hair sticks out of the top cos y not??)  
> and pidge is all steampunk im talking steam punk mask steam punk outfit the whole shit  
> and matt is like fuck it imma wear clothes those shooters at the olympics wear - but it's gonns be orange - AND a - orange - mask  
> and hunk is basically dressed like a cute-ass yellow-ass ninja turtle - headband and all - with a mask or something?
> 
> Keith is wearing like a black t-shirt + cargo pants + combat boots + this long-ass red coat which reaches his calves + red scarf tied on his nose + a pony tail  
> Allura and Lotor basically have Alfor's armor from the show but Allura's cape is pink instead of blue and Lotor's is purple (Thy have like fucking night helmets or something idk ok)  
> Shiro wears like... his normal clothes from the show plus a mask that covers his head?????? I MEAN HIS CLOTHES ALREADY LOOK LIKE SOMETHING A SUPERHERO WOULD WEAR SO LIKE


	4. Mullet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith has a problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry 
> 
> it's been 500 years but exams just got over (yayyyyy) but school is still kicking my butt (noooooo)
> 
> also pls comment and kudos i like validation thanccccssss

The meeting with Team Voltron had gone smoothly. It was mostly Matt and Champion discussing teamwork on the battle field, Lance or Pidge would occasionally butt in because there were just so many "that's what she said" possibilities in that conversation. When they did Matt would grimace and try to hold in his laughter, Hunk would sigh, Champion would blink in confusion and the rest of Team Voltron would wear a range of expressions from "I'm going to die laughing" to "I'm going to kill you for laughing" to "I'm going to kill myself". It was fun.

Lance had returned to his dorm to find it empty, curiosity bubbled in him, Keith almost never left the dorm unless he had class, and according to the schedule taped onto Keith's wall, said mullet-head currently he had no class on weekends. It was Saturday. The meeting had ended at about 6 - it had been much shorter than Lance had anticipated. He decided to ignore his roommates absence and turned on the AC - keeping the temperature as low as possible, the room was so hot he was going to burn - and crashed onto his bed, he was unusually tired.

He'd changed into normal clothing on Matt's helicopter, but he'd been an idiot and packed skinny jeans - and he was not feeling the tight fitting blue and white t-shirt that clung to his skin. He sighed, getting up from the comfort of his bed and stripping off his shirt and jeans before changing into a pair of - very very short - shorts and the big U.C.L.A sweatshirt he'd bought at the (cue long drawn-out sigh) college of his dreams. He'd bought one two sizes too big, because clothes that are too big for you are cuter than clothes that actually fit, okay? Plus he wouldn't be wearing that sweatshirt much anymore (cue second long drawn-out sigh).The sweatshirt was actually longer than his shorts, but his shorts were embarrassingly short so that wasn't really saying much.

He folded his clothes - which were still clean, thank god, considering his laundry pile was getting a bit too big - and packed them into his drawer. He picked up his phone and went through his social media for a bit, two new party invites - one at the fraternity Lotor was a part of and the other a surprise party for this guy in Lance's literature class, his older sister Veronica was going to be in New York next week with her fiance, Lance's nephew's third birthday was coming up, his younger brother Louise's 10th grade final exams would be starting any day now and he hadn't studied a minute, oh, and Pidge was coming over.

Wait.

Pidge was coming over.

Fuck.

As quickly as he could he turned off his lights and dove into his bed, wrapping his blanket tightly around himself and screwing his eyes shit, wishing for sleep. He was almost asleep too, when the telltale sound of his door cracking open infiltrated his room and a very rude someone flicked his lights on and said, "You look like a burrito."

"Fuck off, Pidge."

He heard Pidge sigh as he buried his face into his pillow, he heard the signature rumble of Hunk's chuckle as something - or someone - pulled off his extremely comfy, oh so fluffy blanket. Lance groaned and flipped himself around groggily, he squinted as the light hit his eyes, "I hate you guys," he groaned, sleep heavy in his voice.

"We love you too," Hunk snorted, Pidge scrunched her nose as Lance got up from his bed and she took in his barely there clothes, "And please put on some pants." Lance rolled his eyes, "I am wearing pants - shorts actually but like," he hiked up his sweatshirt to show Pidge that he was in fact wearing shorts, "See?"

That's when Keith walked in.

Keith walked in while Lance was pulling up his sweatshirt exposing his very tiny shorts and a fair amount of his stomach. Shit. Keith was fairly crimson when he walked in on the sight, he coughed in surprise but he quickly composed himself as Lance pulled down his sweatshirt. He looked as tired as Lance felt, there were bags under his eyes and his hair was even messier than usual. "Am I interrupting something?" He asked with a unrecognizable look in his eyes, as he walked to his bed and sat down, kicking off his combat boots and pulling off his - ugh - finger- less gloves. Lance glared at him, "No," he said eloquently and crossed his arms, sitting down cross legged on his bed and pulling his blanket around him, his face still a little crimson.

"God, Lance it's like Antartica in here!" Hunk complained, "You're gonna catch a cold!"

Lance snorted, he biologically couldn't catch a cold.

Lance's body heat was a lot lesser than the average human being's. While an average person would have a temperature ranging from 97°F to 99°F, Lance's body temperature was usually at 63°F, when he caught a fever - as rare as that was - his body temperature would go up to a maximum of 70°F when he activated his powers his temperature would drop to 32°F. His body did produce literal ice.

"Keith how do you put up with it?" Hunk asked, scrunching up his nose as he inspected the room. Lance was a bit of a clean freak, Keith's stray socks and Lances empty cock cans just weren't doing it for him

"I don't," Keith said, and Lance felt heat enveloping him as Keith promptly turned their ac off. "Hey!" Lance protested, "I need that!" Keith snorted, "there's no way someone as skinny as you feels so goddamn hot all the time." Lance was going to complain, but there was really no way for him to explain that h

Lance could almost feel Pidge's amusement. She knew how his powers worked better than anyone else, even him, she and Matt were usually in charge whenever Lance got particularly sick because explaining how his body temperature was at 70°F to your everyday doctor would not be pretty.

 

 

 

Keith was fairly certain that he was still red in the face.

He knew he was attracted to Lance the moment the caramel-colored boy had walked into his dorm room, but after seeing him basically half naked - and adorably so - he was now aware that his attraction to Lance transcended the fact that Keith though he was a bit of a twat. Why were his shorts so short, anyway? (On the other hand why were his legs so gorgeously slim and long and ugh- not now gay thoughts). Keith would've assumed he had walked in on an almost threesome except for the fact that not once had Lance got a girl, or a boy, or anyone back to their dorm. At least not for sex. Also he had engineering with Lance's friend Hunk and Keith was pretty sure he had gone on a date with Allura's friend, Shay.

But Lance. Fuck.

Keith still couldn't stop thinking about it as he switched off the AC, ignoring Lances protests. His friends were laughing silently and Keith saw the shorter one - Keith couldn't remember her name - smirk at Lance evilly. "Anyway, the reason we're here," She said, as Keith pulled out his phone and started scrolling, pretending not to be eavesdropping on the conversation going on across the room from him. "Come over tomorrow, our apartment, 5:00 pm, appropriate clothing, Matt's taking us somewhere," the girl said, raising her eyebrows silently questioning Lances understanding. Lance shrugged, "Why?"

"Matt hasn't told us anything yet, some sort of collaboration,"

"Huh, well, see you two there. Yes, Hunk, I will wear appropriate clothes you don't have to tell me twice."

Keith snorted at that. 

With those words Lances friends left. As the door shut Lance fell onto his bed and groaned, "I'm so tired." Keith quirked an eyebrow, Lance shouldn't have been tired. Keith knew Lance didn't have any classes on weekends, and most of the city would've been on lock-down due to Galra attacks. Most people spent lock-down days watching netflix and reading. 

"Why? Everything was on lock-down today. Plus, you don't have class." Keith questioned, eyebrow arched in question. He was answered through silence and Lance seemed to stiffen, before propping himself onto his elbows, expressionless but looking Keith right in the eye, and asked, "Then where were you?"

And once again Keith was stuck in a hole he'd dug.

"I was just in Alpha Galra Tau, third wheeling Lotor and Allura," he replied, shrugging. Lance didn't seem convinced. His face was twisted into a mix of suspicion and curiosity, "Oh, really?"

A new flash in Lances eyes - a gleam which Keith found strangely familiar - made the brunette lurch up, sitting cross legged on his bed once again, eyes analyzing Keith. Particularly, Keith's hair. 

"Did you know that you and that hero - Red Rebel, I think - have the same mullet."

Keith felt alarm bubble in his chest. He tried his best to keep his hair in a pony tail while he was he was fighting, but his hair would usually fall into their natural messy state by the end of it all. Needless to say the internet was full of pictures and videos of his "mullet".

Keith ran his fingers through his hair, worried, "Really? I've never noticed. Never really paid a lot of attention to superheros."

Lance nodded dismissively, clearly suspicious. "Uh huh."

Those "words" were met with simple silence and Lance fell back down on his bed. His hair was longer and curlier at second glance, and as he fell back his hair flew over and onto his face, the delicate curls spilling onto his eyes. 

"Can you please put the ac on, I'm going to melt," he said, seemingly letting go of their prior conversation. 

Keith rolled his eyes, "How are you possibly feeling hot right now? Like it's only 16 degrees outside?" Keith had been gifted with natural body temperature despite his super powers, it made everything a lot easier. When he was a newborn his body temperature had been at about  120°F, but it settled to a normal temperature by the time he was a few months old. His parents - then wed, now very happily divorced - had both been supers, so his birth had actually happened at The Blade, thank god too. A child born with a temperature of 120°F would at the very least give the doctor a mild heart attack. Keith knew for a fact that some supers body temperatures never normalized, his mother had fire abilities, just like him, but her body temperature stayed at a constant 117°F. 

"Well, I'm sorry if I feel hotter than most people okay? I just do," Lance said, before turning to Keith and giving him the most goddamn adorable puppy-dog-eyes Keith had ever seen, "Please?" Keith almost gave in, catching himself as he reached for the ac remote. He held himself back from giving into Lances undeniable adorableness, instead replying with a stoic, "No."

"I hate you."

"Right back at you."

Lance turned on his side, facing away from Keith and huffed. He wrapped the blanket around himself, and then quickly pulled it off, grumbling about it being too hot. 

Despite Lances complaining he was out like a light, and soon Keith heard those familiar soft snores coming from the other side of the room. Keith was still sitting on his bed, legs hanging over the side as his eyes bore into Lance. He was facing away from Keith towards the wall, and Keith found his eyes sitting on Lances tattoo. Maybe he was beginning to get a little obsessed with the possibility that Blue and Lance were in fact the same person, but it really couldn't be.

Lance was clumsy and lazy and ,despite the fact that he was slim and lithe, Keith had never actually seen him exercise. Meanwhile, Keith had seen Blue doing back flips in mid air and supporting crashing structures with his ice. As far as Keith could see, Lance didn't have the muscle to do that. Logically it seemed impossible, and it was too big of a coincidence, too cliche, too predictable.

Keith changed into more comfortable clothes, ignoring his brain, and lay down on his bed, lying on his side so he could face Lance. He closed his eyes, and he just like his roommate, he was out like a light. 


	5. The Babysitter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance hates horror movies, Keith doesn't.  
> (a break from all the action until, well, you reach the end)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did you guys know that "dreamt" isn't a word? Like it's "dreamed" wHaAaTt????
> 
> My life is a lie.
> 
> nothing much actually happened this chapter and I'm sorry because it's been... years??????
> 
> Also school is kicking my but and im right in the middle of my midterms and i have an eco exam in two days yaaaaaayyyyyyy

Lance had a sneaking suspicion.

It was barely there, and if it were true then Lance didn't know what he was going to do with the information - especially if it ended up being real, but the suspicion was there nonetheless. And growing bigger and bigger by the minute.

He'd woken up to see Keith sleeping, it was about 8:30 so Lance hadn't been out for too long, but he had no idea how long said mullet-man had been asleep. He knew that Keith had falling asleep after him, seeing as how the last thing Lance had heard before he fell asleep was Keith shuffling around in his bed.

Lance - like many supers - tended to have extremely vivid dreams, he remembered every second and every tiny, minuscule detail, it was horrible at times and wonderful at other, Lance managed to get a hang of it, mostly because Lances dreams were usually so far from reality. This time, however, Lance had dreamed of Keith.

And Red Rebel.

Well and wasn't the right word, Lance had dreamed that Keith was Red Rebel.

He'd been fighting some Galra and Red Rebel had popped in to help out, after they were all done - and Lance had shown off a little because really he couldn't resist - he thanked Red for the help and out of nowhere the guy pulled off his mask and for whatever reason had Keith's eyes, Keith's nose, Keith's hair, Keith's everything. Lance getting ready to yelp in shock and maybe some disdain before he woke up with.

Usually he brushed off his more bizarre dreams, and while this dream wasn't exactly bizarre - it was quite believable actually - and Lance wanted nothing more than to forget it ever happened. Why?

Because Keith being Red Rebel mad sense.

The mullet, the finger-less gloves, the build; it was all there. Lance wasn't as smart as Pidge or Matt or even Hunk, but he sure as hell wasn't an idiot. Keith being Red Rebel would make sense out of a lot of strange things the guy did on an everyday basis. How much he worked out for someone who was a math major - a math major who studied the same amount a philosophy major but not half as much as your typical math major. It would make sense of how he randomly went missing from time to time too.

But, like most of Lance's more uncomfortable thought processes, he chose to ignore the fact that Keith and a superhero from a rival superhero team had more in common than seemed convenient.

At Least convenient to Lance.

It was too big of a coincidence anyway, right? What were the odds that two out of the eight superhero's (at least those that Lance knew of) in a city as populous and, well, huge as New York ended up as roommates?

Lance didn't have any data but the odds of that happening had to be very very low.

Instead of focusing on his annoying roommate and the possibility of said roommate being a superhero with a mullet - something that was causing Lance a lot of distress - Lance thought back to Pidge's brief monologue when she'd walked into his dorm a couple hours ago. Usually appropriate clothing meant semi-formal clothes and you're superhero uniform in a carry bag or backpack, Lance could do that, no problem.

He liked fashion, okay? It was a fun pastime and Lance had a hell of a lot of clothes, what else would he do.

Lance sighed in bed, after today's attack he really didn't have much to do... or anything for that matter, thankfully there wasn't too much of the day left but as far as college students went the night was very young. He could study but honestly Lance just really didn't want to. He could go to one of the party's he'd been invited to but that seemed like too much energy to spend.

He'd have to get dressed and all that jazz and honestly there wasn't a single party Lance had been to where he hadn't returned drunk off his ass - apparently he'd told people that he was a superhero on many many drunk nights but no one had believed him because, well, he was drunk. On many occasions Lance had woken up in someone else's house - usually it was Hunk's couch or Pidge's guest room or one of his friends had seen him passed out and felt bad for him and taken him home, at a much rarer times he would wake up in beds of boys and girls alike - usually hitting him with a bisexual crisis back in his junior and senior year of high school.

Lance had grown to embrace his sexuality. Flaunt it even.

It was a weird place to be, many straight people had told him he was just gay and looking for an excuse to not come out, on the flip side a (much smaller) number of gay people had told him he was basically straight and wanted to make himself seam more interesting.

Lance wouldn't say it was hard, he'd never faced misogyny or been mistreated for his sexuality or his race - perks of growing up in the twenty first century to be honest, but he wouldn't say it was exactly easy. Bi-phobia was definitely a thing, Lance had just been lucky enough to have never truly been a victim of it and hell if wasn't really really thankful for it. He had gay friends who'd been kicked out of their own houses and Lance was constantly, constantly, thankful of how appreciative and accepting his parents and siblings had been.

Anyway, Lance didn't want to go to a party right now, not the time not the mood. Instead Lance found himself throwing off his blankets and walking over to his laptop, the answer to his boredom was clear as day: Netflix.

As he walked over to his desk to pick up the mac that layed there, charging away, he heard blankets rustling and a gruff low voice, weighed down with sleep, said, "Lance? What are you doing?"

Lance shrugged, switching on the lights since Keith was awake now and it was dark out so why not. Keith hissed as the light hit his eyes, Lance giggled. "Nothing mullet, just gonna catch up on some netflix." Keith regarded him with a glare, "What? Been partying too much lately?" Keith's drowsiness twisted into an expression of suspicion, eyebrows raised. Lance shrugged it off, "Yup," he said, you know, like a liar, "too much partying."

Keith didn't attend any parties anyway, what did he know?

Keith eyes followed him to his bed, Lance almost squirmed under his gaze - it was accusatory, suspicious.

Keith's gaze relaxed, "So what are you going to watch?" Lance shrugged, climbing onto his bed and crossing his legs. "I don't know yet," he said setting his laptop in front of him, "any recommendations?" Keith looked like he was thinking about the decision with the greatest of interest, eyebrows screwing together, lips pursed in a thoughtful frown. It was almost cute.

Fuck almost.

It was pretty dang cute.

Okay so maybe Lance had kind of hated Keith at first glance - more for his mullet than anything else. What? Lance was petty that way. Still, he couldn't deny that Keith was really attractive. He was buff, like really buff, he could probably bench press Lance honestly and that was really fucking attractive. He pulled off a mullet better than Billie Hargrove from Stranger things, which was about as well as you could pull off a mullet - unless you were, well, Bowie.

"I don't know, what's on netflix?"

Lance opened up his laptop and entered the sight, "Take a look?" Lance asked, about to pass Keith his laptop.

Just as he looked up from his screen to pass the dark haired boy his laptop he felt warmth next to him. He jerked his head sideways and found Keith sitting next to him, eyes staring down at the laptop and picking it up wordlessly from Lances hands, his fingers brushing lightly against Lance's, leg pressed against Lances. "Hey!" Lance said, "ask first..." he mumbled, leaning against the wall on the other side of the bed, shifting a little from Keith's side so their thighs were no long pressed together, he could feel a faint heat crawling over his nose.

Oh no.

He pulled up his blankets and wrapped himself in them, covering up his "blush-region" even though Lance didn't need the blanket at all, the room was almost hot. At least for Lance with his low body temperature. Keith scoffed at him when he saw Lance wrap himself in a blanket, thankfully missing the pink on his cheeks, "And who complains about feeling hot all the time?"

"Shut up," Lance mumbled, if only Keith knew.

Okay he took that back, thank god Keith didn't know. Especially if Lance's suspicion about him being red rebel was right and - fuck here came the distressing thought's again.

Lance literally pulled himself out of his thoughts eyes focusing on Keith who had his eye's glued the Lance's mac. "Have you seen 'To All The Boys I've Loved Before' yet?" Lance asked. Keith scowled, "Not a big romance movie fan... I like horror movies."

Lance almost shivered- he hated horror movies. Hated.

"Well I hate horror movies so that's a no-"

"Horror movie it is then."

Lance whined, "Keith noooooo, I'll start screaming and then the cops will show up 'cause I made too much noise- what? Don't look at me like that it's happened before!"

Keith chuckled, smirk plastered onto his lips. He turned to his side making eye contact with Lance, "How about..." he said, eyes glistening with mischief. He turned back to the laptop screen and made a few clicks, "The Babysitter." Lance glared at him, "... what is that?" He asked, voice heavy with suspicion.

"A kid gets a hot babysitter who's secretly part of a satanic cult and wants to murder and sacrifice him."

"A film for intellectuals I see."

"Yeah, lots of blood and tasteless making out, one of those Robbie Ammel and Bella Thorne type movies - it's got that chick from Pitch Perfect who can't talk?"

"She ate her twin in the womb, Keith."

"Right her."

Okay so it didn't sound that bad. Maybe Keith was exaggerating, how much violence could a movie called 'The Babysitter' even have? Plus it had Robbie Ammel and Bella Thorne so Lance was totally attracted to at least part of the cast - especially if Robbie Ammel took his shirt of because, boy.

Lance sighed, "Fine, but now you need to watch it with me because otherwise I will actually start crying." Keith rolled his, "Don't be such a chicken," he said, smirked still taught on his lips, he turned to Lance who had decided to fix Keith with narrowed eyes and a glare. Keith sighed, " _Fine_ , but if I'm watching this thing we're turning the lights on."

 

 

That was about the worst decision Keith had ever made.

Because twenty minutes into the movie Lance had shrieked and now the boy was pressed up next to Keith, hands fisted into Keith's black shirt sleeve and chin resting on his shoulder, a blanket shared between the two of them with Lances knees pressed next to Keith's thigh and the lights turned off.

Was it hot in here or was Lance just rubbing off on Keith?

In more ways than one.

Lance mumbled throughout the movie, soft squeals and shrieks and squirms erupting out of him every time someone died or the lights dimmed. He'd whisper things like "oh my god oh my god oh my god," under his breath every time it seamed like there was a jump scare coming up and his grip on Keith's shirt grew a little stronger. Every time a jump scare did come however he'd screw his eyes shut, eyebrows knitting together and mouth pursed, soft high pitched noises escaping his lips.

It was really fucking adorable and Keith was really fucking dead.

Because here was one of the cutest boys Keith had maybe ever seen, literally curled up next to him with his whole body leaning against Keith, breath from his gasping breaths fanning over Keith's shoulder and tan skin pressed against his own, fists curled into his shirt, eyes mostly screwed shut, in the dark,  _while they were watching Netflix._   ~~Great. Now it just sounds like they were "Netflix and chill"-ing~~.

Come to think of it this was the closest Keith had ever gotten to an actual date since he started college.

Above all that Lance was still in those tiny, _tiny_ , shorts he''d had on when Keith walked in and just - Keith had not thought this through at all, okay?

He was an impulsive decision maker so when Lance told him to go through Netflix and see what he could watch that's exactly what he did. Keith was a double major, Math was one but Film making. Two very very different curriculum's, his opinions on movies were thorough and _many._

Keith could barely focus on the movie, it really wasn't great or all that scary, especially since Keith had  _personally witnessed_  much much worse. Also Keith was incredibly distracted, Lance was right fucking next to him god they were practically cuddling and Keith was not okay? Now that was scary. What was scarier is that Keith was really fucking affected by Lance and their position and how cute Lance looked when there was a sudden jump scare or a particularly loud sound, and honestly Keith was trying so hard to not wrap his arm around Lance's shoulder.

Then it all ended, with a bang, a crash, and two alarms from two cell phones.

Lance immediately jerked away from Keith - who definitely did not miss the sensation of Lance's body against his own, no way sir, nope not in this house. The brunette picked up his phone, eyes concentrated and alarmed all at once, "Shit," he mumbled, "Sorry for bailing but I really gotta go dude." He scrambled off his bed, "Emergency at Hunk and Pidge's something's on... fire." Before Keith could really say anything in response Lance had grabbed his backpack and slammed the door behind him - still in his too big hoodie and too small shorts from before.

Suspicious; but considering the alarm that came from Keith's own phone this was not the time for pondering.

Keith turned on his own phone to see the alarm Coran had fitted into their phones to alert them on Galra attacks blaring on his screen. He cursed under his breath, at least Lance was gone which meant that Keith didn't have to find someplace else to change into his uniform. He slammed Lances laptop shut and grabbed the costume he kept under his bed - it was nothing more than a deep red trench coat which transformed into a super suit as it was put on - perks of having access to the B.O.M's tech.

Keith pulled open the window as he tied back his hair and fastened the scarf over the bottom half of his face. Energy surged through his body as he felt his powers activate and eyes flash bright, he jumped out the window and started running as soon as his feet touched the ground, Coran's voice ringing in his ear providing him locations and stats.

Keith had an area not to far off, he had to stop evening Galra attack, the worst kind. 

It was New York okay? You started drinking at seven and didn't stop until lunch the next day so there were a drunk of people drunk by... what time was it? Nine? (If it was nine already then everybody was drunk, which made keeping people _safe_  a hell of a lot harder).

As Keith neared his location a telltale chill of cold air and a flash of clear blue ice and eyes greeted him.

Baby Blue was already here.

And Lance was most definitely - probably - not in the dorm.


End file.
